Neil Hopper appeared caring and compassionate when he treated Liz Spooner but years later, her daughter says she felt “sick” after learning the truth about him.
The daughter of a woman treated by disgraced NHS surgeon Neil Hopper has spoken out about meeting him for the first time and the horrifying discovery she made years later. At the time, Faye Harrison believed Hopper might have a special understanding of what her mother was going through.
He was a double amputee himself, or so she thought.
Hopper had become well known after claiming he lost both legs to sepsis in 2019. He later appeared publicly to discuss his experience and built a social media following under the name “Bionic Surgeon.”
But his story would eventually unravel.
The former vascular surgeon was arrested in March 2023 and later faced fraud charges over allegations that he had falsely claimed his amputations were medically necessary.
He was also charged with possessing extreme pornography linked to Marius Gustavson, a man known as the “Eunuch Maker,” who was later jailed for carrying out extreme body mutilation procedures.
Hopper had allegedly sought to have his own legs removed for sexual gratification.
Hopper seemed ‘charming and caring‘
Years before his arrest, Hopper had operated on Faye’s 72-year-old mother, Liz Spooner, at Royal Cornwall Hospital. Liz needed to have one of her legs amputated, and Hopper was involved in her treatment.
Faye remembers meeting the surgeon after her mother’s operation.
“He was smiley. He came across as quite charming and caring,” she told The Guardian.
Then she noticed what appeared to be metal rods extending beneath his trouser legs and she realized that Hopper was also an amputee.
“I thought, blimey, he’s operated on my mum, but he’s also an amputee,” she recalled.
At the time, it reassured her.
She believed Hopper’s own experience would make him more sympathetic to a patient facing the devastating loss of a limb.
“I thought he had amazing empathy,” Faye said.
